Students in the third and fifth grades at Oak Forest Elementary are practicing yoga as well as breathing and stretching exercises for 30 minutes, twice a week.

Dozens of elementary students are kneeling on green yoga mats. They listen carefully to their coach, Ret Paccasassi.

“So on your hands and knees, as you inhale, drop your belly, look up to ceiling. As you exhale, round in — show everybody your Halloweeen cat. Do that one more time. Inhale, look up. Exhale, round everything in.”

You might recognize this classic “cat-cow” pose if you’ve taken a yoga class. Here at Oak Forest Elementary, students are learning that pose and more.

It’s part of a new wellness program in a dozen Houston schools and also growing movement to take the exercise beyond trendy studios and into public schools.

“An equal part of that is character education. And another equal part of that is what we put in our bodies and how it’s prepared or nutrition.”

He started the program in Southern California three years ago. It’s also in New York and Florida. In one California school district, the student yoga program sparked complaints and a lawsuit that it promoted religion in public schools.

Houston school leaders are hoping for similar results. And if there’s interest, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier says it could expand to more schools.

“We see too many of our kids that are overweight, we see too many of our kids that are stressed out and we see too many of our kids that are sitting on the sideline during physical education activities.”

He says participating campuses will add the new yoga program to regular P.E. classes.

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Laura Isensee

Education Reporter

Laura Isensee covers education for Houston Public Media, including K-12 and higher education. Previously, she was a staff reporter at The Miami Herald and contributed to South Florida’s NPR affiliate. Her work has also appeared in The Dallas Morning News, Reuters and Clarín in Argentina. Laura has won awards for...